Next to actually leading, reading may be one of the best ways to learn about leadership. You get to digest the experiences of leaders who have come before you. Their trials, struggles, and victories… all cataloged for you to read.
When you read great books, you’re able to take away the best lessons people have learned. Better yet, you don’t have to experience the challenges they faced. You get to bypass all of that.
It’s the reason I share new book recommendations every month. I want you to become a better leader. So, here are this month’s book recommendations.
Photo by Hans-Jürgen Weinhardt on Unsplash
5 Leadership Books To Read In October 2025
1. The Ride Of A Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Bob Iger:
Bob Iger knows a thing or two about leadership. He was the CEO of the Walt Disney Company for 15 years. That’s quite the tenure.
In The Ride Of A Lifetime, Iger shares leadership principles that every leader needs. Four of those include:
- Optimism
- Courage
- Decisiveness
- Fairness
As you implement the leadership principles he discovered, you’re going to walk away as a better leader.
2. The Culture Map: Breaking Through The Invisible Boundaries Of Global Business by Erin Meyer:
Business leaders worldwide need to understand diverse cultures. Just because you live in the United States doesn’t mean you don’t have to be aware of cultural differences in countries you do business with.
It’s more important than ever to understand how different cultures do business. Erin Meyer helps us do just that in her book The Culture Map.
Meyer will guide you through the precarious differences in culture. She’ll help you avoid mistakes that could crush your next deal.
3. Team Of Teams: New Rules Of Engagement For A Complex World by General Stanley McChrystal:
Do you want your team to become a more flexible and adaptable unit? Team Of Teams is the book you’re looking for.
General Stanley McChrystal shares his years of experience working as the head of the Joint Special Operations. He saw how insurgent forces would quickly adapt their small teams to outwit opposing forces. McChrystal knew he had to do something different.
He shares what he changed, how it impacted the military, and more.
4. Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work by David Rock:
We’re all busy. The demands of leadership are pulling us from one emergency to the next. Unfortunately, the tyranny of the urgent pulls us from what we really need to do: spend time with our people.
If you find yourself with little to no time to inspire your team, that’s okay. Quiet Leadership will help you understand how to lead with limited resources. David Rock helps you plan and devise strategies for those times when you don’t have the time.
5. Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling by Edgar H. Schein:
Do you find yourself turned off by assertive and directive leadership? Don’t fret. You can lead without those traits. In fact, it may be a benefit to your leadership style.
Edgar H. Schein has witnessed the good, the bad, and the ugly. He wants to help others avoid the trap of abrasive leadership. He wants to make leadership humble.
What if you could go from demanding or telling to asking to get tasks done? Don’t think it’s possible, Schein will tell you that you’re wrong.
Find out how you can lead humbly with this great book.
